No young thighs for you
A rubber tapper from Udon Thani is appealing to a young woman who seduced him into parting with at least 100,000 baht to come clean about her intentions.
Win, 58, from Ban Dung district, contacted the media last week to say the young woman, 19, identified as Sai in news reports, had tricked him out of the money over the past 12 months since they met through a mutual friend in the village.
"I joked that a man gets lonely working in the plantation," he said. Win, who is married with children, said his wife failed to satisfy him. However, after pestering Sai to give him sex for a year, and paying dearly for the privilege, he had yet to clutch even a shapely young thigh, as news reports put it.
"I would like her to come forward in public and stop tricking men like me out of money," he said.
Win said Sai asked him for 3,000 baht the first time they met, which he happily gave, as he expected a return. "She spent it taking out her friends for a moo krata meal, and whispered to me that she'd give me sex later that night," he told reporters.
Sai did not turn up at the rubber plantation as agreed, but he told himself she was no doubt tired, and forgave her.
After that she would contact him on social media, asking for money in dribs and drabs, including her school fees. He carried on sending her money as she kept promising him sex, asking him to meet her at the plantation or local motels.
Win said he could wait for hours but she never turned up. However, he made allowances for her as he was smitten by her youth.
Win claims Sai sent him sexy pictures of herself, though the young woman, who came forward following the publicity, insists he took them himself from her social media account.
While she admits leading him on, she said her friends also impersonated her to ask an unsuspecting Win for money.
One friend, she discovered later, had asked Win via Sai's own social media account to help pay off various loans. "When he asked me later for sex, reminding me he had paid off my debts and now wanted a return, I was flummoxed," she said.
Sai claims the pair met once at the plantation when Win tried to force himself on her. However, she managed to flee and after that incident tried to put distance between herself and Win.
Sai admits she does not like older men, but he kept nagging her for sex, so she punished him by asking for money.
Win, who admits he has acted foolishly, said he's afraid people in his village will find out. He disguised his appearance heavily when before the media. "I want her to return the money if she can, or give me sex and I might just forgive the debt," he said.
His daughter was aware that he had been duped and told him to stop sending money to Sai. Sai, who disguised her identity before the media, offered to repay the money in instalments.
Win said his wife had also found out about the saga. He had apologised to her and her parents. Happily, they had forgiven him.
The rubber tapper, still looking for a little affection (he claims he hasn't been to bed with his wife in three years), said he will now turn to the temple for solace. "I will listen to the monks chanting dhamma and see if it improves my spirits," he said.
Reining in oddball granny
An old woman in Rayong has outstayed her welcome in her village and now faces the prospect of being put in a welfare home.
Ban Khai police were called to a home on Dec 17 when Kai or "Yai Joy" Sawanmongkol, 80, stabbed her son Laemthong, 52, in the neck, after he asked her to quieten down.
Grandma Joy, a hot-tempered type who likes a drink, was abusing her neighbours. Mr Laemthong had sat down outside the house he shares with his mother when he advised her to quieten down. Unhappy with that, she attacked him with a fruit knife.
Luckily, she did not sever any major arteries, though when asked by reporters how she'd feel if her son had in fact died, she replied bluntly: "Who cares? He criticised his mother."
Grandma Joy's behaviour is spinning out of control, her family says, thanks to her heavy drinking and the recent loss of her husband, who died three months ago.
Locals say she walks about in the middle of the road, climbs trees, severed her finger after she started losing a card game, and even tried stabbing herself in the head.
When a reporter from Amarin TV visited following the attack on her son, he found her down by a local waterway. Grandma Joy was covered in sand. She denied she was drunk and said she didn't want to return home. Earlier, the TV crew found a pile of booze bottles outside her place.
Cameras filmed her crawling about in the water. The reporter left her there and went to see her son instead, who following the attack is staying somewhere safe as he recovers.
"I expect to go back eventually. My absence also gives officials a chance to see whether she calms down when living alone," he said, adding he was worried about his mother, and did not want to press charges.
Though Grandma Joy has plenty to say about the neighbours, and has tried harming herself in the past, this was the first time she had wielded a weapon against anyone, he said.
Mr Laemthong said he and his younger sister give Grandma Joy money for her expenses, some of which goes to the booze.
His elder sister, Bualoy, said her mother drinks all day. When she heard she had stabbed her brother, she wrested the knife away, and locked her inside until authorities arrived.
Panich Yomaha, 59, the village head, said Grandma Joy moved in two years ago and has caused trouble ever since. On Dec 15 she climbed a tree and fell asleep close to the power lines.
"Many officials have offered help or tried to put her into care, but she won't go with them," he said.
"We took her to get a sickness card to treat her alcoholism, but she wouldn't go and refused to take her meds. She also begs for money from the neighbours and abuses them if they do not pay up," he added.
Chitphon Inchai, a social worker from a Rayong protection centre for the destitute, said he would call a meeting of officials and community heads to look for a way out. The woman was likely to be taken to a welfare home, he said.
Shameless teen attack
Teens gloating over an incident in which two offenders kicked a motorcycle into a power pole, killing all three boys riding it, was short-lived after police rounded up those responsible.
Chom Phra police in Surin nabbed the suspects, Prakatsak, 15, and Jakraphat, 15, who fled the scene after the brutal Dec 14 incident in which the three victims died at the scene.
One witness took down their vehicle's registration number and called police. Others spoke of the boys gloating after their "feat".
After being nabbed by police, the suspects admitted chasing three rivals on a Honda Wave through the village.
As they approached a power pole, the boys in pursuit drew alongside the victim's motorcycle and kicked it, sending it crashing into the power pole.
The victims were identified as Pongsakorn, 15, Wisit, 14, and Pitchaya, 14. Rescue workers gave them CPR, to no avail.
One witness said he saw the teen suspects in a celebratory mood seconds after the incident. "That's so good. Serves you right!" one bellowed.
Trader Somnuk Salawan, 54, was grilling chicken nearby when he saw the bikes speeding side by side.
"When the boys on the pursuing vehicle saw the bike hit the pole, they took off without calling for help," he said.
Sairung Samrong, 40, another witness, said she went to the aid of the victims. "I told them to hang on, help was on the way, but when I looked again they had stopped breathing. The kids were strewn all over the road."
Police say the chase was motivated by jealousy, and have called a meeting of teachers and parents from both sides.
No word was to hand on what charges the suspects will face.
